Afghanistan News & Discussion

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 May 2010 22:02

So what are they going to do about it? Just whine on Internet about TSP perfidy?

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 28 May 2010 08:31

Once Upon a Time in Afghanistan... Rare photos of Kabul in the swingin' 60s

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... fghanistan

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 28 May 2010 09:12

abhishek_sharma wrote:Once Upon a Time in Afghanistan... Rare photos of Kabul in the swingin' 60s

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... fghanistan

Looks like the current Afghanistan is a huge regression on their society. Dr Qayomi wrties about urban Kabul folks. Wonder how it was in other cities.

How much is the current situation a reaction against modernity?

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 28 May 2010 09:30

The pictures show the trappings of modernity. It shows how misleading appearances can be. I think this is a veneer on a deeply conservative society that resented it.

I imagine that absent the Soviet invasion, there might have been a relatively mild regression. It is the war, the introduction of Salafi Islam, the generation of people who have not known anything but jihad that has led to the huge regression.

BTW, I hope Pakistan realizes that in a decade or so, they could be looking at pictures of their cities from today and wondering where it all vanished - unless they wake up urgently.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 28 May 2010 09:35

ramana wrote: Looks like the current Afghanistan is a huge regression on their society. Dr Qayomi wrties about urban Kabul folks. Wonder how it was in other cities.

How much is the current situation a reaction against modernity?

Probably, it is not relevant here, but Iranians were not happy with the Western culture during Shah's rule.

Some of the earliest Taliban leaders were taught by Saudi preachers. I think this 7th century mindset was brought in by Turki Al Faisal.

Javed Nasir believed his own BS. But the Taliban did not capture Kabul during his tenure. Some more pious members of ISI were shifted after his retirement.

Hekmatyar is pretty anti-Western too. But he collaborated with CIA during the 1980s. On the other hand, Mullah Omar never wants to meet non-Muslims.

Carl_T · Post by **Carl_T** » 28 May 2010 11:28

RAPE pictures of Pakistan will probably be similar. With that said, his point is that Afghanistan was a lot better I guess and had potential as a nation.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 28 May 2010 21:10

A_Gupta wrote:The pictures show the trappings of modernity. It shows how misleading appearances can be. I think this is a veneer on a deeply conservative society that resented it.

I imagine that absent the Soviet invasion, there might have been a relatively mild regression. It is the war, the introduction of Salafi Islam, the generation of people who have not known anything but jihad that has led to the huge regression.

BTW, I hope Pakistan realizes that in a decade or so, they could be looking at pictures of their cities from today and wondering where it all vanished - unless they wake up urgently.

Yeah Afghanistan is back to the future for the Islamist world. What is needed is fundamental changes in the core ideology of Islamists. There is no need to regress back to the world of the 7th centruy Arabia especially when we have King Abdulla travelling outside KSA in trousers.

ajit_tr · Post by **ajit_tr** » 28 May 2010 21:51

http://tribune.com.pk/story/16593/dynam ... operation/

we look at the ground situation prevailing in Fata and Pakhtunkhwa, the army is overstretched. Stiff resistance is being faced in Orakzai Agency. Tirah valley in Khyber Agency will be a big thorn when the time comes to clear it. And parts of Mohmand and Bajaur have yet to be cleared.

In these conditions making troops available for a major operation in NWA will not be feasible. Already a major chunk of army is busy in active operations. Relocating troops from any operationally active area may result in providing breathing space to Taliban and thus giving them a chance to reorganise. Besides, keeping in mind North Waziristan’s terrain, there may be heavy causalities to our troops. The same goes for artillery guns, not counting the wear and tear to the rest of the equipment.

The Taliban in the agency such as Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Maulvi Nazir and Jalaluddin Haqqani have rarely attacked the Pakistan army or carried out terrorist activities inside the country. Hence, eliminating all pro-Pakistan elements before any meaningful dialogue takes place in Afghanistan will not be in our interest. We may be left with only Gulbadin Hekmatyar’s Hizb-i-Islami as the only pro-Pakistan group. Also, Kashmiri mujahideen and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (commonly known as Punjabi Taliban) are present in the area and dealing with them requires an altogether different strategy than the tribal militants.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 28 May 2010 22:53

A_Gupta wrote:The pictures show the trappings of modernity. It shows how misleading appearances can be. I think this is a veneer on a deeply conservative society that resented it.

Those are the pictures after the end of colonization were the colonial powers had put their seeds of change over a few centuries to create this elite class. The end of colonization create a vacuum and losing the traditions and social cohesiveness results in break down of the civil society. Tribal group and tribal loyalty supersedes 'nation' or the society

They used the modern medical care and school to do social engineering of the cities and elite groups in this small country. For a while it worked but since it is a rentier country it is dependent on the outside support who can buy the govt. Soviets bought into the govt with their socialist and marxist movement.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 28 May 2010 22:59

And West retaliated by unleashing the deep fundamentaist (mujhadeen) forces to overthrow the FSU. What we have now is the raging beast refuses to go back into the bottle and be nice doggy!

So when Dr. Qayoomi laments at a lost life who is he lamenting against? The FSU or the West or the symptoms of thier actions?

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 30 May 2010 07:13

“U.S. will not prevent India from training Afghan army”

http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/30/stories ... 551000.htm

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 31 May 2010 03:11

^^ Thats because it is already happening and has been doing so for the last 1 or 2 years.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 31 May 2010 06:22

If TSP behaves in N Waziristan then US will be back to saying no to Indian training Afghan troops.

shravan · Post by **shravan** » 31 May 2010 23:31

German President Quits Over Remarks on Military
...
It was the first time in four decades that a German president has quit the post, the nation’s highest even though it is largely ceremonial.

Mr. Köhler set off the criticism when he said in an interview with Deutschland Radio, the public broadcasting station, that German soldiers serving in Afghanistan or with other peacekeeping missions were deployed to protect German economic interests.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 31 May 2010 23:59

^ It is kinda interesting. German president has to quit where as UKistan goes scottfree with the same statement!

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 01 Jun 2010 08:23

Afghanistan before Pakistan made it a pakistan

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... n?page=0,1

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 01 Jun 2010 10:03

abhishek_sharma wrote:“U.S. will not prevent India from training Afghan army”

http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/30/stories ... 551000.htm

Actually there was no such direct quote in that article. It is just the interpretation of the reporter. Bad journalism.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 04 Jun 2010 11:52

A veteran highest decorated Brit. soldier,veteran of the falklands,Bosnia,Iraq,N.Ireland and Afghanistan,returning to the fontline in Af. at the age of 50!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 143702.ece

EXcerpt:

I enjoy the fear, says Major Mick Flynn, off to the front line at 50
Damian Whitworth.

To his army comrades in Iraq he was known as the Beast of Basra. Others, noting the way that he always seems to be at the centre of the action, call him Bullet Magnet or Mad Mick. To Prince William, who served with him in the Household Cavalry, he is legendary.

Squadron Corporal-Major Mick Flynn is Britain’s most highly decorated frontline soldier. In a career that has spanned four decades and taken him from Northern Ireland to the Falklands, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, he has experienced some of the fiercest fighting and received two of the highest possible awards for bravery.

Today, as he tells his remarkable personal story for the first time, he is preparing for one last mission. At the age of 50 he is to return to Afghanistan to command an armoured vehicle in a frontline combat role alongside soldiers young enough to be his sons.....

yvijay · Post by **yvijay** » 07 Jun 2010 05:09

Afghan Leader Ousts 2 Top Security Officials After Attacks on Peace Council

After a two-and-a-half-hour conversation with Mr. Karzai on Sunday afternoon, Amrullah Saleh, the head of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, known as the National Directorate of Security, and Hanif Atmar, the interior minister, submitted their resignations.

I really don't what's happening in Afghanistan. Amrullah Saleh seemed to be one of the capable persons in the Karzai cabinet.

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 07 Jun 2010 06:24

With U.S. aid, warlord builds Afghan empire

Dexter Filkins

The head of a private army earns millions of dollars guarding NATO supply convoys.
.....
In little more than two years, Matiullah, an illiterate former highway patrol commander, has grown stronger than the government of Oruzgan province, not only supplanting its role in providing security but usurping its other functions, his rivals say, like appointing public employees and doling out government largess.
.....
Both Carter and Hanif Atmar, the Afghan interior minister, said they hoped to disband Matiullah's militia soon — or at least to bring it under formal government control. Matiullah's operation, the officials said, is one of at least 23 private security companies working in the area without any government license or oversight.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/06/07/stories ... 971300.htm

The US is providing more aid to controllable thugs than to the Afghan govt. Incidentally Hanif Atmar was one of the people who was forced out. Amrullah Saleh is also a big loss.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 07 Jun 2010 07:49

Anujan wrote:Afghanistan before Pakistan made it a pakistan

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... n?page=0,1

Amazing! What a promising time it must have been for them back then.

Before the Sick Man of Asia to their south got hold of their necks.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 07 Jun 2010 08:18

Afghan Leader Forces Out Top 2 Security Officials

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/world ... fghan.html

After a two-and-a-half-hour conversation with Mr. Karzai on Sunday afternoon, Amrullah Saleh, the head of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, known as the National Directorate of Security, and Hanif Atmar, the interior minister, submitted their resignations.

...

Mr. Saleh is also an outspoken critic of Pakistan and has publicly blamed the government for its support of the Taliban and other extremists. As Mr. Karzai positions himself to reach out to the Taliban, he is likely to have to turn to Pakistan for help, and that could have been more difficult if Mr. Saleh remained in a central role.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 07 Jun 2010 09:57

The quitting of Amarullah Saleh is a blow for India too.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 07 Jun 2010 10:18

I think Karzai was looking for an excuse to fire Saleh. Saleh was the intelligence chief for Ahmed Shah Massod and the Pakis surely did not like him.

Karzai thinks that Pakistan is a "conjoined twin" of Afghanistan and now he has fired Saleh. Abdullah Abdullah is already unhappy with him ...

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 08 Jun 2010 10:34

http://www.politico.com/blogs/lauraroze ... ology.html

Recently dismissed Afghan interior minister says private security firms linked to Karzai clan are being investigated for colluding with insurgents to drive business. (Aram Roston previously reported on the case.) "Basically the headline is while the security of the country is deteriorating, the business of security companies is flourishing," one Afghan American contact says.

More Kabul kremlinology, in wake of Afghan interior minister, intelligence chief resignations. Newly ex-Afghan intel chief Amrulleh Saleh "was young, bright and competent," the Afghan contact says, and there's unhappiness in Kabul at his dismissal. "For sometime, [Karzai] has been uneasy with the Interior Minister. .... In Kabul [in early] June, word in the street was that the Minister of Interior would be fired after the jirga ...supposedly the moi had presidential ambitions and the prez saw him [as] too close with the US embassy.... always the joke the prez was the moi spending his nights at us emb, but last several months, the moi would be at the palace in evenings." Karzai's newly appointed intel chief Ibrahim Spinzada is his relative. "Clearly these two firings are in service of Karzai's various personal agendas," another Washington Afghan hand says.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 08 Jun 2010 14:15

NEWS ANALYSIS
Karzai’s Isolation Worries Afghans and the West

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/world ... fghan.html

“This is the beginning of the unraveling of the Afghan government,” said Haron Meer, a political analyst and former aide to Ahmed Shah Massoud, the leader of the Northern Alliance, which fought the Taliban when they ruled Afghanistan.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 09 Jun 2010 10:06

Who will replace Saleh and Atmar?

http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/20 ... _shakeup_0

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 09 Jun 2010 10:09

Saleh: An old interview from the link ^^

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline ... saleh.html

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 09 Jun 2010 10:19

Crazy Like a Fox

In a fit of anger, Hamid Karzai axes his director of intelligence, Amrullah Saleh. But is there method to his madness?

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... like_a_fox

The Pakistani's second condition (following the closure of the Indian consulates) was the removal of Amrullah Saleh as Intel Chief (whom they saw as anti-Pakistani).

And, with the U.S. talk of pulling out next summer, Karzai is planning for his future, a future that will inevitably depend on good relations with Pakistan and the Taliban.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 09 Jun 2010 15:56

Afghanistan Strategy shifts to focus on civilian efforts - NY Times
Excerpts

The prospect of a robust military push in Kandahar Province, which had been widely expected to begin this month, has evolved into a strategy that puts civilian reconstruction efforts first and relegates military action to a supportive role.

The strategy, Afghan, American and NATO civilian and military officials said in interviews, was adopted because of opposition to military action from an unsympathetic local population and Afghan officials here and in Kabul.

There are also concerns that a frontal military approach has not worked as well as hoped in a much smaller area in Marja, in neighboring Helmand Province.

Even in Marjah, the US/NATO forces are holding on only tenuously.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 09 Jun 2010 16:50

Officers’ mess: military chiefs blamed for blundering into Helmand with ‘eyes shut and fingers crossed’

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 146449.ece
EXcerpt:

From The Times June 9, 2010

Officers’ mess: military chiefs blamed for blundering into Helmand with ‘eyes shut and fingers crossed’
(Sean Clee/Crown)

Helmand: a "radical underestimation of the challenge"
Deborah Haynes, Anthony Loyd, Sam Kiley,

Blundering in, eyes shut and fingers crossed | Cut off, outnumbered and short of kit | Analysis: hungry on the battlefield | In pictures: Afghanistan's decade of war | Graphic: Operation Herrick 4 | Comment: donkeys in Whitehall | Opinion: institutional denial

Military chiefs and civil servants ignored warnings that Britain was ill prepared to send troops to Helmand and signed off a deeply flawed plan, a succession of senior figures have told The Times.

Even those in charge of the deployment admit that the decision to go to southern Afghanistan in 2006, which has cost the lives of nearly 300 servicemen and women, was a gamble and that mistakes were made because of poor intelligence. They insist, however, that the operation was justified to revitalise the Nato mission, combat the Taleban and reassert Britain’s military prowess after setbacks in Iraq.

But a two-month investigation by The Times, which includes interviews with 32 senior military, political and Civil Service figures, reveals that there was deep disquiet over the handling of the mission from the start.

Top ranks within the Ministry of Defence and other Whitehall departments are accused of:

* grossly underestimating the threat from the Taleban;

* ignoring warnings that planned troop numbers were inadequate;

* offering only the military advice they thought ministers wanted to hear;

* signing off on a confused command- and-control structure.

The allegations come as a critical defence review gets under way and David Cameron decides how to plot the way ahead in Afghanistan’s most dangerous province.

One senior serving officer who asked not to be named said of the planning stage: “There was institutional ignorance and denial. We who had bothered to put a bit of work in and had done the estimate realised that we needed much more than we were being given.”

Another source, in government at the time, said that the military was pushing hard for the mission despite warnings that preparations were inadequate. “The advice to ministers grossly underestimated the risks,” he said. “The few people who were doubters were either too cowardly or too cautious to say what they really thought.”

Major-General Andrew Mackay, a former commander of British troops in the province who has left the Army, accused the military of being too acquiescent in rolling over to political bidding. “The genesis of this approach is born of complacency, the thought that ‘we can deal with it as and when it happens’. It resulted, I believe, in the upper echelons of government going into Helmand with their eyes shut and their fingers crossed. For those who fought and died or suffered injuries in that period, this proved a very costly means of conducting counterinsurgency.”

Shameek · Post by **Shameek** » 09 Jun 2010 18:41

NATO Helo shot down. 4 Killed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100609/ap_ ... fghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan – A NATO helicopter was shot down by hostile fire Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, killing four American troops, NATO and the U.S. military said.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the insurgents shot off two rockets to down the helicopter.

Turning out to be a bloody month for NATO alongwith the losses on Wed.

praksam · Post by **praksam** » 10 Jun 2010 02:00

Taliban Reportedly Adding HIV-Infected Needles to Explosive Devices

Taliban fighters are burying dirty needles with their bombs in a bid to infect British troops with HIV, The Sun reported Wednesday.

Hypodermic syringes are reportedly hidden below the surface of explosive devices, pointing upwards to prick bomb squad experts as they hunt for devices.

The needles are feared to be contaminated with hepatitis and HIV. And if the bomb goes off, the needles become deadly flying shrapnel.

The tactic, used in the Afghan badlands of Helmand, was exposed by British ex-Army officer Patrick Mercer.

"Are there no depths to which these people will stoop? This is the definition of a dirty war," Mercer said.

Razor blades are also being used. All Royal Engineer and Royal Logistic Corps bomb search teams have been issued with protective Kevlar gloves.

Click here to read more on this story from The Sun.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne ... bombs.html

Carl_T · Post by **Carl_T** » 10 Jun 2010 02:05

Are there not more efficient ways of spreading HIV?

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 10 Jun 2010 02:40

If the Brits and US army do not pull out within the next year, militarily, they would be virtually forced out. That wil be too much of a loss of face for them, so I think the pressure will rise for an honourable retreat. If this military aspect drags into the next winter, they are finished.

The Talebs cannot be finished off within the framework of the Geneva convention - Talebs themselves do not follow it. Only two forces really managed some effective military victories on the ancestral populations of this region - Alexander and the Mongols. Their methods are described in the historical narratives. Short of that in a modern reincarnation - no chance, also given the possible keen interest of a whole range of nations with modern defense industries in helping the Talebs out.

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 10 Jun 2010 02:51

39 dead in blast at Afghanistan wedding, 73 wounded

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/0 ... index.html

A bombing at a wedding ceremony Wednesday in Afghanistan's Kandahar province killed 39 people and wounded 73 others, officials in the village of Nagaan said.

The International Security Assistance Force confirmed the bombing but had no information on casualties. They and Afghan forces have secured the area, they said.

The explosion came during the wedding dinner, between 9:30 and 10 p.m., striking the area where the men and boys were dining separately from the women. All the casualties were men or boys, village officials said.

The incident took place in the Arghanab district, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the city of Kandahar.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 10 Jun 2010 04:55

( M Moore is a know crackpot)
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/lates ... at-taliban
Afghan president 'has lost faith in US ability to defeat Taliban'

Afghanistan's former head of intelligence says President Hamid Karzai is increasingly looking to Pakistan to end insurgency
President Hamid Karzai has lost faith in the US strategy in Afghanistan and is increasingly looking to Pakistan to end the insurgency, according to those close to Afghanistan's former head of intelligence services.Amrullah Saleh, who resigned last weekend, believes the president lost confidence some time ago in the ability of Nato forces to defeat the Taliban.As head of the National Directorate of Security, Saleh was highly regarded in western circles. He has said little about why he quit, other than that the Taliban attack on last week's peace jirga or assembly in Kabul was for him the "tipping point"; the interior minister, Hanif Atmar, also quit, and their resignations were accepted by Karzai.Privately Saleh has told aides he believes Karzai's approach is dangerously out of step with the strategy of his western backers. "There came a time when [Karzai] lost his confidence in the capability of the coalition or even his own government [to protect] this country," a key aide told the Guardian.Saleh believes Karzai has long thought this, but his views were crystallised in the aftermath of last year's election when millions of votes were found to be fraudulent; Karzai blamed the US, UK and United Nations for the fraud.According to the source, Saleh is deeply concerned by Karzai's noticeably softer attitude towards Pakistan. The president has long dropped his past habit of excoriating Pakistan for aiding the Taliban.Saleh also echoes complaints of US commanders that Karzai refuses to behave like a commander-in-chief, and is not publicly leading the counterinsurgency campaign devised by Stanley McChrystal, the US commander of Nato forces.In London today, the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, warned that progress needed to be made. "In all coalition countries the public expects to see us move in the right direction [but] will not tolerate the perception of a stalemate, where we are losing our young men."
Gates also warned of "a high level of violence, especially this summer", as US forces push deeper into southern provinces where the Taliban are strongest. Today in the south, insurgents shot down a Nato helicopter, killing four US troops, while a British soldier died in a separate attack. In Islamabad in Pakistan, an assault on a depot by insurgents destroyed 50 lorries belonging to the Nato military supply chain.Saleh's resignation on Sunday, along with Atmar, was a huge blow to the government, which is otherwise largely lacking in high-calibre senior officials. He was strongly supported by the CIA and MI6, and had a reputation as hardworking and honest. His six years at the head of what is probably Afghanistan's least dysfunctional state body gave him extensive access to Karzai, a man he still regards as a "patriot" and whom he is reluctant to publicly criticise.But, according to Saleh's aides, the final straw came last Sunday when Karzai apparently questioned his loyalty during a stormy meeting at the presidential palace, appearing not to believe Saleh and Atmar's account of how two insurgents armed with rocket launchers, one dressed as a woman, were able to get so close to a meeting of 1,600 national leaders.Saleh's colleagues say that Karzai even accused the two men of a plot with the Americans and the British to wreck his peace plan.
Saleh's friends say that, because Karzai believes Nato is unable to deal with insurgent sanctuaries on the eastern border, he is looking for an alternative strategy: rather than use western support to "harden" Afghanistan against its neighbour, he is instead striking a less robust attitude to Pakistan and the Taliban.The former intelligence head is outraged by the tone of the jirga, which stressed the role of the weak and corrupt Afghan state in fomenting insurgency. And he was appalled by Karzai's post-jirga announcement that a commission would be set up to release Taliban prisoners not held on solid evidence – such evidence in many cases came from Saleh's directorate.ut Karzai is not alone. McChrystal and diplomats have for months argued that Pakistan is rethinking its support for the Taliban after deadly attacks on Pakistani cities, and say arrests of Taliban commanders, such as Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in February, are proof of the new mood in Pakistan – something Saleh

in US ability to defeat Taliban'

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 10 Jun 2010 06:47

It appears that the higher levels of US/NATO command are backing Karzai's sacking of his two best ministers. (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/world ... fghan.html).

Western strategy is a farce. Despite daily loss of servicemen's lives to Talibs, they are keeping Paks on life support, and backing policies that will hand Afghanistan to the Paks on a platter.

UN support for Karzai's election fraud is a part of the same policy. Karzai seems sufficiently incompetent and myopic to serve western needs.

One only feels sorry for Afghan people who are struggling to save themselves from the Paks.

Manu · Post by **Manu** » 10 Jun 2010 07:11

ramana wrote:
abhishek_sharma wrote:Once Upon a Time in Afghanistan... Rare photos of Kabul in the swingin' 60s

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... fghanistan
Looks like the current Afghanistan is a huge regression on their society. Dr Qayomi wrties about urban Kabul folks. Wonder how it was in other cities.

How much is the current situation a reaction against modernity?

If one reads Michael Savage's "Savage Nation" (a horrible read, but it was a gift)..one realizes this as well. Apparently, in the swinging 60s, the Pretty girls of California (a.k.a Drug Mules) really made Kabul their offsite retreat and all manner of swinging 60's type activity took place...Imagine Robert Downey Jr. counterparts in the 60s ..in Kabul...in fact, it is alleged, in the book, that Afghanistan became a gateway for drugs to the US/EU directly as a result of this and that the conservative Islamists rose up as a reaction against this "immoral" behaviour.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 10 Jun 2010 07:55

Big Brave Taliban Execute 7-Year Old for 'Spying'

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 028704.cms

They hanged him from a tree

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001 ... 19650.html